A Q&A with the President Dennis O’Malley

Tell us about your leadership style: – my job is to set a big hairy audacious goal that doesn’t change easily, next is to push my team outside of their comfort zone and get them to do things that they thought weren’t possible. I’m there to help them develop criteria on how to make decisions. Lastly, I’m there to listen and fix things that break.

How do you keep your team motivated while also balancing a laid-back work environment and industry?

There is nothing laid back about our industry or work environment – which doesn’t mean that it’s not a ton of fun – because it is! But we are not a lifestyle company – we take our mission of becoming the #1 trusted brand in cannabis seriously, and we work diligently to get there.

What plans can you share for Caliva’s future and how will you look to guide your team toward these goals?

We built our business on being the largest vertically integrated company in California and one of the most compliant as well. We are transitioning into being known for our ability to create, produce, and support great brands, like our flagship Caliva Collection line, but also for third-party brands as well.

What do you consider to be the greatest benefits of operating a vertically integrated company?

We aspire to deliver on a brand promise of Consistency, Transparency, and Accessibility – vertical integration allows up to control the supply and demand chains and gets us closer to our brand promise every day.

How do you hope to grow your brand as legalization becomes more widespread?

Word of mouth marketing is the best form of marketing. A great brand starts with a great product and experience. As we continue to get great brand and product ambassadors we will give them opportunities to tell their story everywhere.

How do you balance the rapid growth of the industry while also maintaining the best product and customer service possible?

The growth of the industry is an overblown media line – the reality is that the market greatly contracted with legalization and regulation and it is those two areas – that are critical for us to keep up with. We have great retail staff for our consumers and a world class product team that is developing world class products for the new informed consumer.

How do you balance your recreational and medicinal brands with customer needs?

In essence there is no significant medical market. In all other states the medical market has dropped to below 10% of overall market. There will always be patients that require high doses, which we support, but our focus is bringing products to market that people can use daily, in their routines, in a micro-dose manner.

How has the internet helped your company grow, and how do you hope to utilize it moving forward?

Most new consumers still look in 3-4 different places online before making a larger purchase – its no difference for us. Yelp, Google, Leafly, Caliva. Menu – we care what is said about us and want our consumers to be informed to make a purchase they are happy with.

What are some of the ways you have to creatively market your company?

We haven’t seen many restrictions. We effectively work with Facebook, Instagram, Google in the appropriate ways to get our messaging out. We used email and digital ad channels as well as billboards, print ads well. We think our marketing mix is in a good place.